DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

Just this past weekend, we reluctantly watched one of our group members leave because of a serious injury. More than halfway through our program here in Seattle, our group of thirteen had adjusted to one another, our internships, and our surroundings in the city. Now we are re-negotiating our roles in a downsized group of twelve, each of us shifting in small and imperceptible ways to fill the gap of an absence we all feel.

This disturbance came at a particularly disruptive time for us because we have had enough time here to become familiar not only with ourselves as a community, but also with our community partners and the city as a whole. We settled into the routine of a forty-hour work week, with programming and alumni events two or three nights a week and additional events on weekends.

We benefited from our placement within the city, geographically, but also on another level. Our dependence on public transportation, threw us into direct contact with all demographics of Seattle’s population and our work at not profits put us to work toward the goals that so many citizens support financially or through volunteer hours, but that others just as vehemently oppose. From the first week, we all agreed that Seattle had a much smaller feel than a city of 586, 200. I attribute this primarily to the city’s network of vital and distinct neighborhoods, - each with its own history, character, festivals, and events. As we have learned from our own experience and from people involved in the non-profit world here, Seattle’s myriad non-profits both depend on and work to preserve this dynamic interplay of smaller communities to sustain their success. 

(Photo: Interns at People for Puget Sound doing outreach in Pike's Place Market. Courtesy of Maya Robinson)

I quickly realized the combination of these factors allowed us to easily relate to and find our niche within such a heterogeneous city. It has taken me longer to realize that our experience of forced transition to a smaller group puts us in an even better position to identify with the Seattle community.

On Wednesday night, our group went to “Candidate Survivor,” a political event downtown sponsored by The Stranger and the Washington Bus, that brought the candidates in the upcoming city council election onstage in an off-beat forum where they participated in a madcap “Survivior”-style competition and also answered serious questions about the most important issues surround Seattle politics today. The event catered to the under-30 crowd and had the ultimate goal of increasing voter participation in that age group.

The night encapsulated an incredible energy the city’s young, involved citizens have achieved in their sustained efforts to improve life for the disadvantaged population in Seattle. Most of the questions focused on issues important to young people just starting out or others at an economic disadvantage, liked public transportation and health insurance. The youngest citizens in Seattle are clearly reform-minded and overwhelmingly liberal. They’re pushing for a shift from a staid city, reliant on powerhouse corporations like Boeing and Starbucks to generate economy, to an innovate city that is responsive to the entire spectrum of its citizens needs – from affordable housing to public support of the arts – and prioritizes local, small-scale economic success.

As so many of this city’s disadvantaged, especially the young, are working to reform policies and institutions that only perpetuate the problems that have plagued the city for years, other under-privileged residents are on the slippery slope of a slow and steady decline. All of us have found the constant presence of the homelessness in almost every neighborhood of the city impossible to ignore. During a focus group session last week, the Seattle Works executive director told us that every one homeless person you see on the street, there are ten more people living without housing in Seattle. Although Seattle has taken steps to improve the overall quality of its citizens’ lives, it still has a long way to go.

When I applied to a domestic program, I didn’t expect to come to a place experiencing such drastic change. Seattle is far from a state of upheaval found in conflict-ridden regions, but it is at the very least in a state of long and strenuous transition. We have found the same sense of evolution at each of our community partners here, as well. Out of our six community partners (the Austin Foundation,  JDRF,  OneAmerica, People for Puget Sound,Seattle Works, and Solid Ground) four have recently moved or are currently moving. The realities of the recession happening all over America prompted some of the moves, but I think the moves are also part of the general trend of transition in Seattle. Even some of the businesses and non-profits who talk with us are expanding the limits of business practice and philanthropy to take new and more effective approaches to both.

At least for me, it’s taking time to recover from the loss in our group. But if we can safely base our expectations on the examples surrounding us, I think our last few weeks here hold the potential for some of our richest experience and our deepest change.

photo by Eric Van Danen

Jacob Wood is one of 13 students interning in non-profits and NGOs to help address community needs in collaboration with Duke alumni in Seattle.  Below he explains what he hopes to gain from his DukeEngage experience.

1.  What drew you to this particular program or project?

Initially when I applied, all I knew was that I would be performing community service with a special interaction with legal issues.  As a pre-law student the idea of witnessing the effects of America's laws first hand in a variety of situations was extremely appealing on many levels. First, as a future lawyer, engaging with some of the policy aspects of the law will help add to my reservoir of knowledge about the American legal system in general. Also, as a prospective resident of the Seattle, a genuine concern for and  knowledge of the legal issues of the region is something that could be important in the future.

2.  What excited you about working with your community partner?

Through my work with OneAmerica, I'm working with immigrant communities and the legal issues they face while in Seattle, I am tremendously interested in leaning what problems people face, how the law can work for or against them and how my own definitions of America and preconceived notions about immigration may change as a result of my experiences. My position at OneAmerica also promises to involve a lot of walking around and meeting people and fulfilling various needs of the organization, so I am eager to see how I will be able to accomplish the variety of tasks before me.

3.  What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?

I would essentially like to meet the needs of OneAmerica as best I can. I will count the summer as successful only if I meet my own goals and theirs. Eight weeks can only produce so much within that time-frame, but I think a better
measure of success is to plan to have an effect that goes beyond that.

4.  How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke? 

I hope that upon my return to Duke I will have developed better work habits, a more clear focus on identifying problems and solutions, and a more urbane sense of the various social communities in which I interact. In addition I wish to possess a more accurate knowledge of the various ramifications of laws within the United States. All of these skills and areas of knowledge should make me more effective within the organizations I am involved in at Duke.

DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects.  Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.